The present invention relates generally to nail care products and processes of applying same. More specifically, the present invention relates to compositions and processes for applying strong protective coatings to nails with or without artificial extensions to the nails.
Numerous techniques for applying protective coatings for nails, with or without extensions to the nails, exist today. The types of artificial nails produced by these techniques can be classified as: (1) glue-on nails; (2) nail wraps; (3) sculptured nails; and (4) nail dips.
In addition to these techniques, one of the most successful and popular nail systems for repair and cosmetic enhancement of nails employs a cyanoacrylate gel as an adhesive. In this "gel" method, a viscous cyanoacrylate gel itself is used as a filler or coating on a nail surface. The cyanoacrylate glue is spread over the surface of the nail or over an artificial nail already attached to the natural nail and cured to form a protective coating. Such systems have been developed that utilize a blended mixture of powders and liquids that is applied to the nail surface, as with the nail dipping method. Alternatively, cyanoacrylate liquids or gels that are applied to the nail surface with a brush or spreader are used. Separate accelerators or hardeners to cure the gel are then applied by spraying or brushing the hardener onto the previously applied layer of cyanoacrylate gel.
Specifically, in such a procedure, the artificial nail is originally glued onto the tip of the natural nail by use of a cyanoacrylate glue. The glue can also go directly over the natural nail. Once strong bonding is effected, the entire surface of the artificial and/or natural nail is coated with a viscous cyanoacrylate adhesive (commonly called gel).
This coating is accomplished in a three step process. Initially, the adhesive is applied to the nail surface by a spreading technique. Second, a solvent solution with activator, such as dimethyl-para-toluidine, is either brushed across the adhesive or sprayed and evaporates at room temperature. The product is then buffed to smooth. This results in a fairly hard, coated nail that can be polished.
However, this procedure suffers from the drawback that the polymerization of the cyanoacrylate can be quite exothermic, and depending on the amount of promoter applied, quite high temperatures can be realized on the surface of the nail. These temperatures can cause great discomfort for the user. Moreover, the finished nail may not be very strong and have a tendency to crack easily.
Still further, after the coating is applied to the nail surface, a user often applies nail polish on the nail. This additional step of polishing the nails further protracts the time required of the user to obtain beautiful colored nails. Nevertheless, to maintain beautiful colored nails, the user is forced to repeatedly apply nail polish on the nail surface.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for applying a protective coating to a nail that will overcome the drawbacks of prior systems.